
Designing Technology for an Aging Population
Towards Universal Design
Morgan Kaufmann (Publisher)
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 1. April 2026
Book
Paperback/Softback
300 pages
978-0-443-33730-7 (ISBN)
Description
Designing User Interfaces for an Aging Population: Towards Universal Design, Second Edition explores the unique needs of older adults in today's digital landscape. The authors examine this demographic's wide-ranging sensory, cognitive, physical, and emotional characteristics, connecting each to the challenges and opportunities older users face with technology. Backed by hundreds of global research studies, the book provides actionable design guidelines to enhance satisfaction and usability for seniors. Updated to reflect the latest advances in AI, robotics, and speech recognition, it offers fresh examples and case studies to keep designers informed about emerging trends.
Beyond demographics and design principles, the book highlights common pitfalls in technology that can reduce accessibility for older adults. It discusses strategies for involving seniors directly in research and design, ensuring their voices shape digital innovation. The authors emphasize that older users remain underserved and often overlooked in technology studies, urging designers to broaden their approach. By addressing these gaps, the book helps professionals create more inclusive interfaces that better serve a rapidly growing segment of the technology-using population.
Beyond demographics and design principles, the book highlights common pitfalls in technology that can reduce accessibility for older adults. It discusses strategies for involving seniors directly in research and design, ensuring their voices shape digital innovation. The authors emphasize that older users remain underserved and often overlooked in technology studies, urging designers to broaden their approach. By addressing these gaps, the book helps professionals create more inclusive interfaces that better serve a rapidly growing segment of the technology-using population.
More details
Edition
2nd edition
Language
English
Place of publication
San Francisco
United States
Publishing group
Elsevier Science & Technology
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 191 mm
Weight
450 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-443-33730-7 (9780443337307)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Previous edition

Book
03/2017
Morgan Kaufmann
€42.50
Shipment within 15-20 days
Persons
Jeff Johnson is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of San Francisco. He is also a principal at Wiser Usability, a consultancy focused on elder usability. After earning B.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale and Stanford, he worked as a UI designer, implementer, manager, usability tester, and researcher at Cromemco, Xerox, US West, Hewlett-Packard, and Sun. He has taught at Stanford, Mills, and the University of Canterbury. He is a member of the ACM SIGCHI Academy and a recipient of SIGCHI's Lifetime Achievement in Practice Award. He has authored articles on a variety of topics in HCI, as well as the books GUI Bloopers (1st and 2nd eds.), Web Bloopers, Designing with the Mind in Mind (1st and 2nd eds.), Conceptual Models: Core to Good Design (with Austin Henderson), and Designing User Interfaces for an Aging Population (with Kate Finn). Kate Finn has worked on user interfaces and usability since 1983. After obtaining her Ph.D. in Computational Linguistics from Georgetown University, she conducted research on natural language understanding systems and automated speech recognition. She was at SRI International for 6 years, where she designed and developed prototypes of graphical user interfaces for sophisticated intelligence systems. Since SRI, she has worked as an independent usability consultant, primarily on websites. She organized several workshops on Video-Mediated Communication, and was the lead editor on the book Video-Mediated Communication. She obtained a Certificate in Gerontology to better understand the unique capabilities and needs of older users. Currently Kate is co-founder and CEO of Wiser Usability, Inc. (wiserusability.com). She also blogs about design, aging, and technology at kate-finn.com.
Author
President and Principal Consultant, UI Wizards, Inc., USA
Co-founder and CEO, Wiser Usability, Inc., USA
Content
1. Introduction
2. Meet Some Older Adults
3. Vision
4. Motor Control
5. Hearing and Speech
6. Cognition
7. Knowledge
8. Search
9. Attitude
10. Working With Older Adults
11. Case Studies
12. Summary and Conclusions
2. Meet Some Older Adults
3. Vision
4. Motor Control
5. Hearing and Speech
6. Cognition
7. Knowledge
8. Search
9. Attitude
10. Working With Older Adults
11. Case Studies
12. Summary and Conclusions